CaptureGem File Locations Guide

This guide explains where CaptureGem stores settings, recordings, and temporary data. Settings can point videos and temporary files to other folders, so check the paths shown in the app before moving anything.

Default data folders

• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\capturegem
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/capturegem
• Linux: ~/CaptureGem_Data

To see the folder, open Settings and look next to Open Settings Folder: it shows the path, with buttons to copy or open it. This is the desktop app's data folder. On some older installations the recorder uses a different one; see below.

An explicit CAPTUREGEM_DATA_DIR environment override selects a different profile for both the desktop and recorder daemon. Older installations may also have a legacy profile: on Windows, the folder that currently contains CaptureGem.exe; on macOS, ~/CaptureGem_Data. On Windows, CaptureGem only looks for a legacy profile next to the copy of CaptureGem.exe you are running, so a copy unzipped into a different folder won't find the old profile.

When both old and new folders contain settings, the desktop and recorder daemon can choose different profiles. The recorder daemon uses the legacy folder whenever it contains config.json, while the desktop uses whichever folder has the more recently changed config.json or viewState.json. Check both folders and the app logs before moving files or resetting data; do not assume that one folder contains everything.

What's in the data folder

• config.json contains settings and model information. It can also contain passwords, session cookies, authentication headers, tokens, and a license key.
• config_backups/ holds a copy of config.json made about once a day, named backup_<date>_<time>.json. If config.json is missing or damaged when the recorder starts, it automatically restores the newest backup that still lists models. The backups contain the same private details as config.json.
• viewState.json holds the desktop app's display settings and layout, such as dark mode, theme colors, and dismissed tips.
• Log files, such as events.log, transcoder.log, startupDiag.log, panic.log (written after a crash), reset_config.log (configuration loads and resets), and transcoding_activity.jsonl (a history of conversions and of recordings CaptureGem deleted).

Treat config.json and the files in config_backups/ as secrets: store them privately and never upload or share a raw copy.

Recordings and other media

By default, the recorder daemon keeps these folders inside its data folder:

• videos/out: finished videos
• videos/tmp-hls: temporary files of recordings that are still recording or waiting to be converted
• videos/retained-temp: source files kept after a successful conversion, while Temp File Retention (Hours) is above 0
• metadata: details CaptureGem keeps about each video, such as thumbnails
• proxy/downloads: videos captured with the proxy feature

Each of these locations can be changed in Settings with Set Video Save Location, Set Temporary Files Location, Set Retained Temp Files Location, Set Metadata Files Location, and Set Proxy Files Location, so check their current paths before a backup or reset. See the settings guide for what happens when you change each one.

A finished file and temporary or retained source media serve different purposes. Preserve unfinished source files when a recording or conversion fails; see the reset guide before removing any data.